Wish stories

The impact of illness

Zak, who lives in Belfast with his parents and baby sister, is being treated for a type of cancer called Metastatic Neuroblastoma. That's involved chemotherapy every 10 days, radiotherapy and also surgery to remove the mass, which Zak called “the Green Goblin!”

After 14 months, Zak’s family was given the all-clear and he started a two year medical trial to reduce his chances of relapsing. That was initially successful, but he's now facing health challenges once more.

Zak’s Dad, Gareth, said: “He’s been so resilient; he just gets on with it.”

One of Zak’s doctors referred him to Make-A-Wish and when asked what his dearest wish would be, Zak explained how much he loves to play with Lego and that his favourite things to build are related to Batman stories.

Zak’s wishgranter, Nicola arranged for his whole family to travel from their home in Northern Ireland to visit Legoland Windsor Resort, where some exciting surprises lay in store for him!

Too excited for words!

Zak and his family flew from Belfast to London and they were then driven to their accommodation at the Legoland hotel. Before the flight, Zak was invited to meet the pilot in the cockpit and even got to wear his cap!

Gareth said: “When we got to the hotel, Zak was so excitable he actually couldn’t speak. He was trying to talk so fast about everything he was seeing that his mouth couldn’t keep up!”

Zak loved the adventure-themed room they stayed in at the hotel, complete with a treasure chest. He didn’t want to sleep for the whole time he was at Legoland – he wanted to be everywhere at once!

On the first night, there was a mini disco for children and the next day, Zak explored the park and went on lots of rides. For Zak, the best part of the whole trip was when he got to meet his favourite character - Lego Batman.

Family time is quality time

Zak's wish gave him the chance to be a child again, after so many months of his early years were spent in hospital. He was able to go on an adventure that was entirely his own creation.

It especially meant a lot for his family to be together as one unit as Zak’s baby sister was born during his treatment so he had missed this special time, as well as missing out on going to playgroup and starting nursery with his friends.

Now, Gareth says Zak is more confident around children his own age and he was well enough to start school in the September!

We'd like to say a big thank you to Cash for Kids Northern Ireland for supporting us by funding Zak’s wish.